Ending Hunger in Their Own Backyard

On Saturday morning, a sea of green and blue tie-dye gathered outside the Ridgeway . Kelley Lombardo, a , greeted shoppers with a bright smile and information about a way they could make a difference during their weekend shopping trip.

Backyard Humanitarian has quickly established themselves as a group of dedicated volunteers in Stamford looking to help out wherever there's a need. One need that is often overlooked is the increased need for food donations during the summer months.

“Some kids get their meals through school, when school’s out for the summer, it’s a little harder to eat,” Angela Malizia, founder of Backyard Humanitarian, said.

Through August 31, Backyard Humanitarian is partnering with Person to Person for a summer food drive. Person to Person has identified families in need throughout our region and the volunteers from Backyard Humanitarian has provided the support to go out and staff the food drives.

Saturday morning provided an opportunity for shoppers to enter the grocery store, list in hand, and come out with their donation, but through the end of August, donations can be dropped off at on High Ridge Road. Juice, rice, beans, pasta, soup, canned pasta, canned vegetables, tomato sauce, peanut butter, jelly, crackers, and cereal are all in demand.

“I thought it would be great to do it at a grocery store,” Lombardo said. “I went to Bob Silver, the manager here, and he said we could do a food drive out in front. He's great and really likes to do things for the community."

Lombardo first got involved with Backyard Humanitarian during the earlier this summer and has been active in their events ever since.

In addition to food donations, many shoppers gave cash donations — including one who handed over a two-dollar-bill, deemed a token of good luck by the team.

Many Backyard Humanitarian members ran with the idea and used their own connections to hold food drives and spread the word. In many ways, this is perfectly in line with Malizia's mission in creating Backyard Humanitarian — the idea that everyone can step up and help make a difference in their community.

“My son’s at camp and we put a bin out there, now we have three full bins, we want them overflowing,” Stefanie Ryan said.

The Ryan family had always been active in their community, but since moving to Stamford, they didn’t know exactly where to go to get involved. After reading about Backyard Humanitarian on Facebook, they quickly got involved.

“It’s exactly what we wanted to do and its great for families,” Ryan said.

This next generation of Backyard Humanitarian took center stage at the table, Lombardo’s two children — Norah and Mason — also came by with their dad, peering into the bin to check on the growing collection. Mason Lombardo wore one green Croc and one blue Croc — his favorite colors and the colors of the Backyard Humanitarian team.

For many participants, the best part of Backyard Humanitarian is that they are able to make a difference right away, regardless of how much time they can commit to the organization, and they know that their efforts are going directly to help those in need.

“You aren’t donating food that could sit on the shelf, it's bagged and given directly to the families,” Malizia said. “The goal is that nobody is hungry this summer.”